A TRANSCRIPTION MAP OF THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX (MHC) CLASS-I REGION

We have applied cDNA hybridization selection to nine YACs spanning 3 M b of genomic DNA from a region centromeric to HLA-A to the histone clu ster that lies telomeric to the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC). In addition to Class I genes and pseudogenes, we describe over 63 genes and 23 additional expressed sequence tags distributed throug hout the region. Many of the full-length genes belong to gene families . Prominent among these are a group of genes encoding proteins showing homology to the carboxyl-terminal sequences of butyrophilin and an ad ditional group of zinc finger genes. We also detected several previous ly undefined genes that are specifically expressed in cells of the imm une system, indicating a more complex role of the MHC in the immune re sponse than has been appreciated. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.